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Film all in all is not bad - the metaphors make it across the board, the characters and acting is well for the most part, the cinematography and thensome is phneomal, however the issue I personally had was the fact that the film dragged it's feet through thick mud. If you're expecting this to he a horror flick to the core, scary - immediately disregard that, this is an all in all very reality stricken tale of many challenging emotions like depression, grief and the repercussions of what our lashing actions can do. It really gets the messages across the board well, but as said, thick mud. I can see many people losing their patience with this one, finding it boring with its very prominent slow burn approach. This is a film to watch, if you're seeking to immerse yourself in this characters trauma and grief journey, as well as get a glimpse of some really well captured raw emotions.

I fully see where they were going, I personally enjoy the message and thensome, however with its extremely slow wrapping up and ending that ( for me ) felt like the capsize of this film, this was quite an endurance to sit through and watch. Mentally prepare and know what this film has to offer before jumping in.

This movie was honestly awful. With how the movie began, the font of the posters and it being categorized as a horror movie it is not one. It's one of those those really awful movies that's just all dialouge and nothing really happens through out the movie and it's one of those movies that you always have to think if the supernatural thing is actually happening or it's just the character hallucinating. But I actually did like most of the characters especially Ryan, he was just cool and the acting was ok. But good characters isn't enough to save a boring movie like this, this movie actually needed to be a horror movie with real stuff happening for it to have any sort of redemption. I don't write reviews often cause I'm bad at them but when it's a movie as boring and bad as this one I usually try my best even if it saves one person their time, this movie wasn't even worth the 50 cent online fee for regal unlimited.

TL;DR: not a horror movie, it's a dialogue driven movie about the character Ryan getting over his fathers death.

You spent two precious hours of my time to explain nothing! Where is the explanation about what I'm looking at and why is this movie so long just to leave people hanging? Is this a generational curse? A curse for the men in the family? Or is the illness a generational curse that's causing all of these issues? Why aren't these idiots taking medication? You seek therapy but don't seek any other preventative measures. This movie is literally about how self destructive people with mental illnesses are but how it also impacts those around them. Yet for some reason I doubt that was the intent. The musical score is horrible and doesn't match the mood or the movie. You didn't just give the creature the middle finger, you gave it to the audience too.

THE GOOD REVIEWS ARE LIES

I just wasted my time watching this crap that starts out good, but they obviously had no idea how to give the story any background or an ending that wasn't a complete joke.

Why are the characters being haunted?

Nope, no answer, not even a clue and the ending is just stupid.

This is Not a horror movie. This is a bait and switch. You start the movie thinking, "hey, this looks like it could be a creepy film about satanic cults," but it ends up just a wanna-be documentary on hereditary schizophrenia that makes a mockery of the actual illness and those that suffer it.

Pretty disgusted I got taken in by the good reviews.

The Shade (2023) is not your typical horror film. While it certainly has its share of chilling moments, it's far more than just another dumb jump-scare flick. This is a film with a powerful message, one that explores the dark and often taboo subjects of grief, mental illness, and family trauma.

What sets The Shade apart is its allegorical approach to horror. The entity that haunts the characters is more than just a monster; it's a representation of the destructive cycle of depression and suicide that can plague families for generations. This metaphorical layer adds a depth and complexity to the film that elevates it above standard horror fare.

The film follows Ryan, a young man struggling to cope with the recent loss of his father. As he grapples with his own grief and anxiety, he begins to see a terrifying vision that no one else can see. This vision leads him down a dark path, forcing him to confront a hidden family secret that has been buried for years.

The Shade is a film that will stay with you long after the credits roll. It's a haunting and thought-provoking exploration of the human psyche, and it's sure to spark important conversations about mental health and the importance of seeking help.

If you're looking for a horror film that is both terrifying and meaningful, The Shade is definitely worth checking out.

"The Shade" is a deceptive film, masquerading as a traditional horror flick but revealing itself to be a poignant exploration of grief, depression, and the lengths we will go to protect those we love.

The film follows Ryan, who is grappling with the loss of his father. As he attempts to maintain a semblance of normalcy for his family, his older brother begins exhibiting increasingly disturbing behavior.

What sets "The Shade" apart is its refusal to rely on cheap scares or jump scares. Instead, it delves deep into the emotional turmoil experienced by its characters. The horror is not supernatural, but rather the psychological torment inflicted by grief and loss. The film's pacing is deliberate, allowing the audience to fully immerse themselves in the characters' struggles which is why I want to clearly state, that this is not a horror film. Because those expectations will have you starting to squirm in your seat thirty minutes into its two hour plus run-time.

The performances are exceptional, with Chris Galust (Ryan) delivering a raw and emotionally charged portrayal of a young man struggling to cope with immense pain. The supporting cast is equally impressive, adding depth and nuance to the story.

While "The Shade" may not be the adrenaline-fueled horror film that some may be expecting, it is a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of the human condition.

You spent two precious hours of my time to explain nothing! Where is the explanation about what I'm looking at and why is this movie so long just to leave people hanging? Is this a generational curse? A curse for the men in the family? Or is the illness a generational curse that's causing all of these issues? Why aren't these idiots taking medication? You seek therapy but don't seek any other preventative measures. This movie is literally about how self destructive people with mental illnesses are but how it also impacts those around them. Yet for some reason I doubt that was the intent. You didn't just give the creature the middle finger, you gave it to the audience too.

I went into this movie without knowing anything about it, and some movies are best viewed that way, because there are no expectations. I've seen reviews that state it isn't what they expected.

It is a psychological horror, with great acting, dialogue and cinematography.

If you enjoyed Hereditary, this movie is for you.

Despite the fact of never having heard about director Tyler Chipman's 2023 horror movie "The Shade", as I stumbled upon it here in 2025, of course I needed no persuasion to watch the movie, given my love of all things horror.

The narrative in the movie is a bit slow paced, and that sort of makes it a bit of a drag and a test of will to sit through the movie. There was very little of anything overly interesting happening as the narrative dragged on and one. So writers Tyler Chipman and David Purdy didn't really impress me with the script and storyline that the conjured up for this movie.

The only familiar faces on the cast list for me were actors Michael Boatman and Brendan Sexton III. Despite the fact that the script was a sluggish affair, I will still say that the acting performances in "The Shade" were fair.

This was not a movie that made use of an abundance of special effects, I can't really claim that the effects were doing much to lift up the movie in general.

While I did manage to sit through the entire movie in its 127 minute runtime, I did almost drift off to sleep once or twice along the way. With a runtime could have benefitted from a round-handed trimming down in post editing.

I would not recommend you to throw away 127 minutes of your life on this movie, it just simply doesn't have the entertainment value to sustain such a long runtime. Nor is it a movie that I will ever suffer through a second time.

My rating of director Tyler Chipman's 2023 movie "The Shade" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

I'm not going to lie. I was enjoying the movie and I wanted to see where it was going to take me. Throughout the whole film I was intrigued, yes there's a lot of dialogue but wasn't boring. The horror aspect was creepy and scary. It's not in your face scary.

They couldn't stick the landing. The ending ruins the whole movie. It feels like they didn't know what to do. Clearly they didn't know where to take it for the ending. I wouldn't watch it again. One of the worst endings I've seen.

I'm always up for Good new horror movie, This was on Amazon prime, so I thought I would give it a shot. I Didn't watch too much of the trailer because I like to be semi surprised when I watch something.

Well, I am over 45 minutes in and could sum this movie up in a couple of sentences. Yes, That's how little has happened. I'm even going to have trouble coming up with the amount of words to describe and rate this film.

So far, there is no horror in this. I would call it a drama more than anything.

So if you like very slow drama movies, this one might be right up your alley. To horror fans, this is an easy skip.

2/10 PASS.

While the Babadook is about a mother being plagued by a supernatural creature representing her grief, loneliness, and despair as a failed mother and lost partner, the men in The Shade are menaced by a hideous harpy being that likewise represents their grief, anxiety, emotions, and fears that they're not good enough and are slipping.

The film's impact comes from it's normalcy. How completely regular and everyday it is, and then suddenly there's this flash of an arm, or your worst fear slinking across the hall. And you can't say anything, because you are so scared it's not real and no one will believe you.

The film is from the masculine perspective and explores, in a subtle, tactful way underneath the horror premise, the damage done to men when women usurp and then block their natural communication amongst themselves and ways of processing.

The men are hobbled in facing their (literal) demon by the women in their lives who cannot even see the creature as real, as many women deny male emotions are real, yet still manage to make the men's experiences about their own feelings and what they need those men to provide for them. Even men speaking just amongst themselves are hindered, since they are hedged into feminine modes of therapy speak and must reframe their experience to be less offensive or obtrusive, apologizing even as they are ignored.

The inability to share in a masculine way and the reluctance to participate in an ineffectual-for-them feminine one leads to anxiety, panic attacks, and suicides as the Harpy creature infiltrates their lives.

It's not until they band together and take up their natural roles that they can face the demon down.

If there was a movie about 20-35 year olds that are dumber than sandbags, this claims that spot.

The writers are in the same boat because the dialogue was dull, meaningless and empty.

Very few screenplay writers under 40 years of age never look into movie history or even view classic films. You were able to get a good sense of a character's personality though well-written dialogue and direction in films in older times.

I find that fast-forwarding is common with movies over the last 20 years. "Shade" earned top spot as I would guess this film could have been shortened by at least 30 minutes.

*Spoiler FREE*

As the title says, this is EASILY a 10-Star story and acting film. But, unfortunately, the directing choices bring it down a bit. Other peoples reviews are a bit too harsh. I am fine with the movie being long and a "slow-burn" type of film. The story is amazing and the acting is truly some of the best of the year..(or longer?). Amazing job to the crew. Even with a runtime of just over 120 minutes, it actually left me wanting MORE. One of the few movies this year that I actually viewed twice in a week. Unfortunately, some of the directing issues are just glaring; there was not enough info given about the entity even though it is set up for your own interpretation of trauma within their family and your own as well as a confusing opening scene (WHO exactly was the little boy if the trauma happened just last year??) All-in-all, this film is well worth a watch, especially if you enjoy gritty dramas with a touch of GOOD psychological horror! We will remember this one for a long time!

4.5 is slightly underrated. The acting was completely natural. This is the first time I've ever paid attention to how well Chris Galust can act and is it just me or does he look a little like Jack Dawson aka Leonardo DiCaprio? I couldn't help but watching him act and envisioning young Leo with the same mannerisms and features. Anyway with that said this movie can really test your movie watching endurance. While it does have a few good climaxes they are few and far between one another. So after something happens you're kind of just watching a bunch more character building until you get a slight pop of a demon and then your back in the therapist chair or laying with the Misses. The beginning starts of promising but it kind of gets debunked when you realize that isn't what really happens. Good movie good acting super super super slow burn. 2 hours was completely unnecessary. 4.5 is low it could gotten 5.5 or even a 6 easy but I'll go with 5.

I've honestly never seen another movie quite like it. In my own life, I was lucky enough to never have to deal with the problems that the main character does. But I felt like I was able to imagine what it would be like to be Ryan and living in Ryan's world. This was made possible by the great performances and realistic dialogue. It's cool when something feels real even when it's very different from your own personal experiences. A lot is left unanswered, but I enjoy that because I think it makes the world feel bigger and more mysterious and gives me something to think about after the movie ends. Great first movie from Tyler Chipman.

This is a hard one to review. My mission in life - and by life I mean IMBD reviews - is to warn people when a horror movie they're about to watch is a clumsy metaphor for a social issue. If filmmakers are going to keep doing it, and they clearly are (looking at you, Soderbergh), somebody's got to give the heads up to innocent viewers so they can know ahead of time rather than finding out after an hour and a Prime Video payment. Usually it's easy because most contemporary filmmakers are really bad at metaphor. Their total literalism (which is putting it kindly - I didn't say "lack of skill and imagination") means they only seem to be able to make the story work on one level or the other: they can either make a movie about society or they can make a movie about a ghost. A good metaphor has to do both; you have to have a message and a satisfying narrative that reflect each other. Inevitably, these creators back themselves into a corner and have to pick one, and since they only made the movie to convey the message, the story always loses and the final act is an incoherent mess with a spotlight pointed directly at what was supposed to be subtext. The story falls apart, but the message is clear and overt. This movie... well, that's true of it, too, but it's so much better than most of its peers that it deserves recognition for it.

Usually when one of these movies hides the message until near the end I complain about it as a sleazy bait-and-switch. And again, this one did do that to a degree, and that's why I can't give it the ten stars I'd like to, but also again, it was too well done to describe that way.

First, this movie does an exceptional job of creating characters. From start to finish, every character you meet feels like a real person in a way I haven't seen in maybe decades. I can't praise it enough, honestly... it's like when you've had a head cold for a month, then suddenly your senses clear and you can hear and smell in a way you'd forgotten, and the world is a richer place than it was a minute ago. Watching this movie makes every character you've seen in the last twenty years look like a rough sketch on thin paper. It's crazy. This is the usual horror movie cast of teens and twentysomethings plus a few adults, and they do the same annoying things those characters always do: they get drunk, they flirt, they make bad decisions, they go to loud parties and stumble into the woods, but instead of being infuriating, they're all likeable somehow. No one is a caricature, no one is a stereotype - and I'm comparing this to serious drama, not just b-horror. This outclasses every character in the most hyper-sincere, emotionally-charged prestige picture in recent memory. These people are bloody Shakespearean. Infinite praise to the writing, the direction, and the cast. The characters of Ryan, Mariel, and Jason are particularly impressive, which probably shouldn't be a surprise since they're the protagonists, but the depth and realism of their relationships and the portrayal of their feelings for each other, not cloying or aloof, but supportive and flawed is worth calling out. So there's that.

The horror story itself is good. Very good, even. And unlike a lot of Metaphor Movies, it holds together right up to the end. The story is never fully sacrificed for the message. Oh, the metaphor here is trauma, by the way, like it almost always is. In this case it's the spectre of suicide and the shadow it casts over a family.

The alarm bells that the whole thing might be a metaphor start to ring about halfway through, when you realize the movie is spending a LOT of time on the characters' emotional and daily lives and relatively little developing the story. The story is still simmering in the background, but for every five minutes spent on the ghostly mystery there are twenty spent on how the characters are feeling and reacting to more mundane matters. The only reason for that, it may then occur to you, would be if the feelings were the important part and the ghost is secondary. If that's the case... well, there's only one place it can be going.

Ultimately the movie only has two real flaws as far as I'm concerned. First and most significantly is that imbalance between the emotional content and the plot; there's just too much of one and too little of the other. Second is the ending, which, like all its Metaphor Movie peers, drops the story in favor of the message, BUT it does in a way that doesn't *break* the story. It still works, you just don't get any resolution. That's not a terrible thing, though; lots of great movies have ambiguous endings. Is it a bait-and-switch? Maybe a little, and the result is an ending that will satisfy the audience that was watching for the message more than the one watching for the plot, but neither side of the theater will be left completely hanging.

Oh, and since all of my reviews address modern movies' approach to social issues and messaging, I guess I should include it here. It's pretty darn good on that score. Honestly, I should be praising it to the heavens for its treatment of male characters as human. The story focuses on three brothers, which is rare in itself, but even more unusually it takes their emotions seriously, acknowledges that all people are affected by trauma, is willing to show them crying, terrified, and in pain, as well as angry and closed off. The only drawback for me is it also leans a little too hard into the depiction of men as handling their emotions by bottling them up and violently lashing out, which, while certainly a real phenomenon, is not specific to men and is a stereotype I dislike. Then again, there genuinely are people out there for whom that behavior is normal, and they watch movies, too. Anything else on this side of things? Eh... Mariel makes a few casually abusive jokes, but they do come off as jokes and don't seem to reflect anything except a little of the last few years' cultural norms.

Also, can I call attention to how great a job Michael Boatman always does? Why do we not see Michael Boatman in more stuff? Good to see you, Michael, you rock.

Here endeth my review of The Shade. Head and shoulders above its peers, with maybe a little bit of dandruff.

Spent 2 hours building up to what? Basically, back to where it all started? This movie explains absolutely nothing. The main character's description to the therapist is not even how the dad dies initially. The movie is way to slow with just inessesary drama that could have been prevented. One minute the main character is all you know you can talk to me right? Then reverses that open door policy. Like wtf? What was up with the cloaked people? Was that thing a succubus? Literally just a movie about going to therapy. Do not watch. And to require a review to have a minimum. Of 600 words? What is this? Online college discussion board for homework?

There is literally nothing to this. There's a metaphor for generational mental illness or something but there's no real story to carry it. I'm all for subtext in horror but it seems some directors no longer care about actual text. Maybe if this wasn't over two hours long I'd feel differently but there's running time says they really thought they were doing something here. They were not.

Maybe it's just me but I immediately can hear his Russian accent. I had to look up the actor and sure enough. It's just distracting to this movie since Ryan is supposed to be an American guy. Maybe non Russians don't notice it but it annoyed me way too much. Otherwise the movie is kind of slow so far full disclosure I am only 45 min in and feel like I might not make it. The accent!!! Arghhh.